non-verbal communications

The nonverbal conversation – your body language dialogue with the audience – will make or break you as a speaker. It’s where authenticity is created or destroyed. And you can’t just wing it. The irony is that winging it looks fake – because a certain amount of fumbling around is involved and that looks fake. […]

The first step to brain mastery is to take inventory of how you inhabit space, how you stand, how you sit, how you move, and how you interact with others. When you’re sitting alone, do you slouch or sit straight? When you stand, are you taking up all of your space, or do you shrink […]

We humans are much more communal than we realize. It’s something we’ve forgotten, as we tune in separately to our thousand channels of entertainment and news using devices that isolate us even as they offer pseudo-connections to the group through the music or the headlines or the games. We remember our communality when we get […]

Three things happened to me when I was 17 that turned out to have a significant effect on my interest in communications, and specifically non-verbal communications, later in life. First, I read a book about the Dalai Lama, and took him on as one of my heroes immediately and forever. Second, I learned my father […]

Three things happened to me when I was 17 that turned out to have a significant effect on my interest in communications, and specifically non-verbal communications, later in life. First, I read a book about the Dalai Lama, and took him on as one of my heroes immediately and forever. Second, I learned my father […]

Thanks to TV shows like Lie to Me and so-called body language experts commenting on the candidates during the American election season, a number of misunderstandings about body language have become part of modern culture. It’s time to clear the decks. So here goes: 7 surprising truths about body language. 1. Much of what the […]

If you’re like most people, you think about body language as follows. I’m pretty much in charge of my body. I direct it, from the control tower in my head. I tell it what to do. ‘Make coffee’ I say, and it goes through the motions. ‘Now drink it’ I say, and it obliges. Sure, […]

Grown ups learn to conceal their emotions, in the workplace, in social settings, and at home. There are all sorts of reasons to do so, some good, some bad, but it’s useful to be able to detect concealed emotions underneath a bland exterior whether it’s your boss holding back on a job performance issue or […]

Respect is a hot-button issue, especially for people who feel threatened or not well-established in the social hierarchy. If your autonomy is under siege, respect will often be a big issue for you. So how do you spot respectful body language – or its opposite? People will unconsciously try to dominate someone that they perceive […]

What are the body language signs of passion? You’re thinking, this is a joke, right? No, I’m not going to talk about sex. I’ll leave that to the experts and the Internet. What I’m talking about are the signs that a co-worker or friend or family member is about to erupt in rage, or frustration, […]

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